Accolades for Excellence

Photo: Mike Peters

Honors
and awards are no surprise to Montclair State University faculty, staff, and
students since the University has long been highly regarded by many. But this
year, Montclair State has been the recipient of a cascade of prominent honors
and rankings that signify a new level of acknowledgment in the higher
education community.

Over the
past year, Montclair State University has been in the national spotlight on a
number of occasions for its overall excellence, as well as for specific
initiatives and programs. The University has been given top rankings by
national publications such as Forbes,
The Princeton Review, and U.S. News & World Report, and listed
among the best institutions in the nation in areas ranging from minority graduation
rates to environmental responsibility.

Here are
some of the honors, national rankings, and accolades bestowed on Montclair
State in the past year:

Top Public University and a Best
Buy

America’s
Best Colleges, Forbes' annual list of
the best colleges and universities in the nation ranked Montclair State as the
top public institution in New Jersey. Further, the University was ranked as the
third best college or university in the state overall, with only two private
universities ranking higher on the list.

The
America’s Best Colleges list was not the only list on which Forbes placed Montclair State. Together
with the Washington DC-based, not-for-profit organization, the Center for
College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), Forbes also placed the University on its “Best Buy” list. Titled
“Twenty-Five Best Buy Northeastern Colleges,” the list placed Montclair State
at number 15 in the entire northeast, and second in New Jersey.

The
national rankings from Forbes and
CCAP did not go unnoticed, and a few months after the lists were published,
President Susan A. Cole and a contingent of Montclair State students were on their
way to Trenton to receive a Joint Legislative Resolution of congratulations
from New Jersey lawmakers.

Saying
it “stands as a beacon of the heights to which education can aspire,” the New
Jersey State Senate and General Assembly officially congratulated Montclair
State at a ceremony held at the State House. Governor Richard J. Codey
presented the Joint Legislative Resolution of congratulations to President Cole
and was joined by other legislators in honoring the University. The legislators
recognized Montclair State for being, in the words of the resolution, “an
exceptional example of the success possible through the selfless efforts of concerned
and dedicated people.”

Big Improvements in Minority
Graduation Rates

In
January, the Education Trust, a Washington DC-based, non-profit advocacy group,
named Montclair State a “Top Gainer” and listed it among the top 25 public
four-year colleges and universities in the nation for its improvements in
minority graduation rates. Among the Carnegie classification’s 186 public
master’s institutions included in the study, Montclair State was the only New
Jersey institution to be listed in the top 25.

The
Education Trust’s report, “Top Gainers,” noted that between 2002 and 2007, the
graduation rate for underrepresented minority (URM) students—those of African
American, Hispanic, and Native American heritage—at Montclair State increased
by a substantial 14 percent, nearly double the average increase of all public
master’s institutions that made gains during that period. That increase made
the University’s 2007 URM six-year graduation rate a highly respectable 54.9
percent, well above the 35.6 percent national average for public master’s
institutions for that year.

The
University was also ranked in the top 25 nationally in a companion report, “Top
Gap Closers,” which listed those institutions that were most successful in
closing the gap between the graduation rates of minority and non-minority
students. Between 2002 and 2007, Montclair State narrowed that gap by 13.4
percent, a figure that places the University in the number five spot nationally
on the list for public master’s institutions.

The
Education Trust credited Montclair State’s success to its top leaders who
recognized the importance of improving retention and graduation rates, and made
making improvements in those areas a primary University objective. Stating that
the strong network of support services and programs for students, as well as
the efforts to improve student success both in and out of the classroom were
central to the University’s success, the report gave Montclair State high marks
in all areas.

Education Programs in the Top 20

Coming
on the heels of being ranked among the ten leading schools of education in the
nation by the George Lucas Foundation in 2008, Montclair State’s College of
Education and Human Services is again in the news for having two of its
graduate programs—secondary teacher education and elementary teacher
education—ranked 14 and 17 respectively in the 2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings of America’s Best Graduate
Schools. Once again, Montclair State was the only New Jersey institution to be
on these lists.

“Montclair
State’s programs are now receiving the national accolades that New Jersey
educators have long bestowed on our programs, faculty, and students,” noted Ada
Beth Cutler, dean of the College of Education and Human Services. “Our
reputation as a premier College of Education has been longstanding and growing,
and we are honored to achieve this national recognition.”

The
honors keep rolling in for the College of Education and Human Services. In
April, the Society of Professors of Education presented the College with the
2010 Wisniewski Award, which recognizes the one institution each year that has
made “singularly significant contributions to the theory and practice of
teacher education.” The University was also selected by the Woodrow Wilson
Fellowship Foundation as one of 27 host institutions where Woodrow
Wilson-Rockefeller Brothers Aspiring Teachers of Color Fellows may pursue
Master of Arts in Teaching degrees.

Presidential Community Service
Award

National
rankings are not the only recognition that Montclair State has enjoyed. It has
also been recognized for its dedication to community service by being named to
the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll—the highest
federal recognition a college or university can receive—for its commitment to
volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.

“The
evidence shows that service learning has a very positive influence on students’
academic achievements, their development as engaged citizens, and on the
community organizations and agencies that they serve,” stated President Cole.
“In my judgment, the many Montclair State programs that enable students to
bridge the academic environment with the world beyond the University play a
very significant role in the educational process.”

The
Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual
Honor Roll, chose the institutions to be recognized based on a number of
selection factors such as the scope and innovation of the service projects, the
percentage of students who participate, the incentives for service, and the
extent to which the institutions offer academic service-learning courses.

During
the 2008-2009 academic year, Montclair State had approximately 550 students
enrolled in service-learning courses, all performing a minimum of 20 hours of
community service related to their service-learning coursework. Additionally,
apart from any academic requirements, around 480 students volunteered in
community service projects. Altogether, Montclair State students engaged in
over 19,170 hours of service to the community during the year.

Recognition for Being Green

Citing
Montclair State’s commitment to green technologies and practices on
campus—exemplified by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the
Environmental Protection Agency, its recycling and conservation programs, and
LEED-certified buildings—The Princeton Review has included Montclair State in
its first release of The Princeton
Review’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges.

Focused
solely on “institutions of higher education who have demonstrated an
above-average commitment to sustainability in terms of campus infrastructure,
activities and initiatives,” the guide profiles the nation’s most
environmentally responsible campuses. Montclair State was given high marks for
recycling, procuring local and organic produce, offering New Jersey’s only
doctoral program in Environmental Management, and for hosting the Passaic River
Institute. Although it occurred too late to be included in The Princeton
Review’s evaluation this time around, Montclair State also launched the PSEG
Institute for Sustainability Studies in April.

A joint
project of The Princeton Review and the U.S. Green Building Council, The
Princeton Review’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges is designed to help college
applicants and their parents make decisions about which institution to attend.
The Princeton Review’s research has shown that a large percentage of college
applicants factor an institution’s commitment to the environment into their
decision about where they will apply. Now that it is listed among the top
institutions in this regard, students will have even more incentive to consider
Montclair State.

Top University for Hispanics

Recognizing
Montclair State for the number of bachelor’s degrees it awarded to Hispanic
students, The Hispanic Outlook in Higher
Education magazine has placed the University on its “Top 100 Colleges for
Hispanics” list. For New Jersey, Montclair State took the top ranking.

A Military Friendly School

Not least among the many accolades received this year, Montclair State
has been named a “Military Friendly School” by G.I. Jobs magazine. This designation places the University in the
top 15 percent of the 7,000 institutions of higher education around the nation
that G.I. Jobs surveyed to compile the list. Lauded for providing staff who are
dedicated full time to working with veterans, Montclair State was one of just a
handful of New Jersey universities on the list.